The district announced at the beginning of April it had eliminated its chief operating officer position.
Board Vice President Nick Hill said the position was first created in 2019 when the district had significant ongoing construction projects. Those projects, including the Ecker Hill Middle School and Park City High expansions, are now wrapping up.
“Districts of our size do not usually have a chief operating officer,” Hill said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” April 10. “As we're looking at budget and we're looking at how we can move forward most effectively with taxpayer dollars, it no longer made sense to have that position in the district.”
The elimination of the position came on the heels of an external investigation the district requested after receiving questions and concerns about COO Mike Tanner’s salary and district duties. Namely that Tanner had a “special assignment/extra-duty contract” for safety responsibilities, which were already listed in the district’s COO job description.
Park City School District Board of Education President Meredith Reed said these types of yearly contracts are common.
“There are plenty of teachers and other employees in the district that get small [extra duty contracts], and it's been a pretty broad policy around that,” Reed said.
The board has asked Superintendent Lyndsay Huntsman to review all existing special assignment contracts to ensure they comply with district policy. Hill said that policy is “overbroad” so the board is also reviewing and tightening the district’s guidelines.
“It has allowed a lot of discretion in terms of how those contracts are issued, and we are actively looking at that. At how we can much better define what the expectations are around how those contracts are used and issued,” Hill said. “But there is no evidence that I've seen that there was any policy violation in how those contracts were given out.”
Concerns about Tanner’s military status while working in the district were also raised. The board is now creating a policy regarding employees in the military. Reed said the district already follows federal requirements pertaining to military employees.
